Luscious Lamb Shanks.........

The other half and I have had a very Italian feel to our week. I do love the flavours of the Mediterranean especially Italian food which shows through in a lot of my cooking. The use of fresh ingredients and aromatic herbs to make the simplest meals amazing (I seem to harp on a bit about keeping it simple).

The dish that really stood out was my marvellous lamb shanks, the best cure for the winter blues. An old favourite amongst pretty much everyone that has ever tried it, served with a delicious polenta or a lovely creamy mash potato (which if you ask the other half could be served with any and everything). After I have lightly coated them in flour browned off and put them aside and make a start on the sauce. In a good pan and some nice olive oil sweat off an onion, carrot, celery and a little garlic, then deglaze your pan with some red wine throw in a tin or two of Italian tomatoes, some beef stock and a good dose of fresh thyme. Put the shanks standing up in a large pot and cover with the sauce, turn it down to a really low heat, bang on a lid and simmer for two and a half hours or so until the lamb pretty much falls of the bone. The best thing about lamb shanks is once they have been started you can leave them to their own devices for a few hours, while you take care of a few pressing matters or just sit back enjoy a glass of wine and a nice chat. Once the hours have slowly ticked over remove the lamb shanks and put your sauce through a blender or the trusty food processor and season to taste with a little pepper and sea salt. Serve them up and sprinkle with some fresh parsley and indulge.

Taking care of two:

4 Lamb Shanks
A little flour
30ml good olive oil
1 large carrot roughly chopped
1 large stalk of celery roughly chopped
1 large onion roughly chopped
3 Cloves of garlic
2 tins of Italian tomatoes
500ml beef stock
A few good sprigs of thyme
200ml red wine
Salt and pepper

Definately A Dessert.....

Every great meal needs an equally tantalising dessert to conclude the story, to add that memorable twist that makes it stick in your mind like your favourite novel. It is one thing to have an amazing entree accompanied by an extravagant main course but if you don’t get the desert right that is what everyone will remember, after going to all the trouble to get the first two just right putting in that little bit extra at the end is what gets people talking about your dinner party again and again. I had some friends over for civilised drinks and a few delicate morsels to satisfy the deep rumbling of their bellies. There was lovely garlic prawns on a bed of wild rice to start things off, followed by a delicious snapper fillet marinated in fresh herbs and roasted in the oven. The thing that had everyone commenting at the end of the evening was the port poached pear, which had been simmering away in the back ground filling the room with an aromatic aroma of the cinnamon, chilli and other spices used to flavour this ‘piece de resistance’. Served with a generous scoop of French vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of the reduced poaching liquid, (there were a few ice cream headaches from those that couldn’t shovel it in fast enough) the sweetness of the pear and ice cream is finished of sensationally with the afterthought of the chilli and spices in the sauce.

Carrot Soup Quickie.....

A delicious bowl of soup is perfect for a chilly winters evening, it starts to warm you up just thinking about it. Being the coldest day this year I couldn’t wait to get home and create a simple yet fantastic carrot soup to put a smile on the face of the other half after a long cold day at work. With no more in the cool box then a few carrots some nice big leeks and a bit of chicken stock I had made the day before, I went to work on this winter warmer. Leaving the sliced carrots and leeks to soften in a pot with a good knob of butter, I went to make a much needed cup of tea. After letting it do its own thing for 10 minutes or so, I covered the lot with the stock and left it to a gentle simmer until the carrot is really nice and soft. I put it all thru the faithful food processor and added a good dollop of Greek yoghurt, served it with some crusty bread and watched the life flow back into her cheeks after the very first spoonful. A fresh steaming bowl of soup has to be the best antidote to a cold miserable day I can find.